Today it was time to leave Auckland for the Bay of Islands. Our first task was to pick up the rental car from the local agency we had reserved from. It was a 20 minute walk (downhill) from our apartment. We selected a NZ rental company rather than an international brand based on advice from friends and the cost. About half of what Hertz charges for a “new” car versus the local Apex Car Rental which deals in recycled vehicles from Japan that are 3 - 5 year old. I haven’t been able to find out how old our's is yet but it has 139000 km on the clock but it runs OK. A Nissan Tiida aka Versa with a small engine.
We carefully plotted our route out of Auckland to minimize the chance of any mishaps while I acclimatized to driving on the left. The only persistent problem has been that the windshield wipers operate every time I signal a left turn. The damn control stalks are reversed! Guess everyone knows I’m a tourist and they get out of the way as soon as they see those wipers going on a clear day.
Here is a map of our route today so you get an idea of where we are.
We stopped mid morning at Orewa for a late breakfast smoothie. A beautiful beach area.
There was a large supermarket there so we decided to pick up a few items for lunch/breakfasts now that we had our chilly bin. Picking up a pack of beer reminded me of Ontario, the 12 packs of Stella were on sale!
We continued on to Whangarei where we stopped for a couple of hours to tour the expansive waterfront featuring a large fleet of flash yachts escaping the typhoon season in the north.
We even saw a boat from Toronto.
We took a lunch break at a local pizza joint then drove to the outskirts of town to see the Whangaeri Falls. A nice little loop trail that provided a number of perspectives.
Back on the road again until a pit stop at Kawakawa to use the “unique” public toilets designed by Austrian-born artist and echo-architedt Friedensreich Hundertwasser.
We arrived at our apartment in Paihia in time for a walk along the waterfront and pick up some groceries for supper. Twenty minutes in the hot tub and we were really ready to relax for the evening. We are here for two days so more on Paihia tomorrow.
Kiwi "Words of the Day" - Trundler - a grocery cart
Word 2 - Flash Yacht - a large privately owned boat
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